Shrove Tuesday

In the Christian calendar, Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. In Britain it is popularly known as "Pancake Day"; in Louisiana it is Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday"); in Brazil it is Carnival.

A famous pancake race at Olney in Buckinghamshire has been held since 1445.

Many towns throughout England held traditional Shrove Tuesday football ('mob football') games dating as far back as the 12th century. The practice mostly died out with the passing of the Highways Act in 1835, which banned the playing of football on public highways but a number of towns have managed to maintain the tradition to the present day including Alnwick in Northumberland, Ashbourne in Derbyshire, Atherstone in Warwickshire, and Sedgefield in County Durham.